gilad shalit

Just Chanukiot

rjstreets

In Jerusalem, the variety of chanukiot, Chaunkah menorahs,

seems without end.

In Mamilla Mall, a traditional style

is on display near the unusual

 and the hard to describe.

 There are chanukiot on top of tall buildings.

One ‘candle’ is added each night to the chanukiah on the Knesset building.

This store display of silver ones was dazzling, 

but the first night of Chanukah these simple wine bottles

in a bar window were also beautiful, 

as was the chanukiah on a fast food restaurant counter in the Old City.

The chanukiah in the Mahane Yehudah market, the shuk,

had lanterns for lights. 

Someone might assume there is religious significance to plastic chairs,

as there are so many

chanukiot placed on them.

Every night the Old City has been full of walking tours,

with people wandering  the streets looking for lights

in normally shuttered windows.

The chanukiah near the Kotel, the Western Wall, is very impressive,

as is the one which reads “Gilad Shalit lives” and

this chanukiah which remembers all the MIA’s.

And Chanukiot line some of the main streets.

 CHANUKAH SAMEACH

Happy Chanukah

Jerusalem City of Fire

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It is said that Hebron is a city of earth, Safed a city of wind,

Tiberias a city of water  and Jerusalem a city of fire.

A common sight in Gan Sacher, Sacher Park is a fire for a family picnic,

 usually there is also plenty of smoke.

The weather has been hot and dry enough for fires,

but thankfully there have not been many in Jerusalem,

The Knesset might look calm, but Israeli politics offers plenty of fire.

This has been a week of protests, to name just a few:

a demonstration against the separation of men and women on public buses 

and the same morning,

thousands of people came to protest against a new building freeze.

On the plaza outside the Prime Minister’s Office electric generators

were fired up in a protest tent.

The protesters using  the slogan, Yes you can!  say “No”.

A tent set up by the Gilad Shalit family supporters attracted a large crowd 

at 1000 days after his captivity.

What  began as a simple tent, near the Prime Minister’s official residence

now receives a constant stream of visitors.

  The tent is equipped with a full kitchen and gets restaurant-size deliveries.

It has been fitted with plastic and heaters ready for the winter’s cold weather.

The newly-installed floors need washing, 

and the protest tent has taken over the entire  corner.

International visitors still demand his release on humanitarian grounds,

but the days just go by.

The fruit and vegetable growers are on strike. 

Supplies could decrease by the end of the week.

Farmers are demanding more legal foreign workers to help them work.

There could be shortages,

and you can bet that prices will go up for the holidays.

The fires have started heating the oil for sufganiot.

Chanukah is next week,

 then Jerusalem will be a city filled with fire from holiday candles.

To everyone in US:  Happy Thanksgiving!

Houses From Within

rjstreets

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Houses from Within was not just open houses in Jerusalem,

 but the event also opened gates that are usually closed to the public.

One of the most popular of dozens of free tours was at the Hansen Hospital,

located on Marcus Street.

In the large, walled compound is a two-story structure built

by the Protestant community in 1887.

It became known as The Leper’s Home 

and was an asylum for up to 60 leprosy patients.

The once ‘luxury’ structure, it was built with a bridge

so patients could easily reach the toilets,

outhouses located on the right side of the main building.

The grounds had gardens and enough livestock  to be self sufficient.

One interior room is now on display.

While patients were always free to come and go,

the last patient left in 2000; the gates were sealed during the intifada.

Not far away in the German Colony,

the Houses from Within event included

 #41 Emek Refaim Street, the Alliance Church International Cemetery.

Thousands of people walk by each day,

but most have never seen the mural inside.

Next to it, is the Templer Cemetery which was established in 1878.

Located in one of the most popular parts of Jerusalem,

the vast size and beauty of these three hidden properties often goes unseen.

 But, there is one spot in Jerusalem that has become an international

 ‘must-be-seen’ venue.

Visitors are now bringing their own film crews to record their visits 

within the Shalit family tent.

 Hamas has refused to deliver a letter to Gilad Shalit 

through the International Red Cross. 

  With all that was going on this week,

there was one issue that united evreyone in Jerusalem,

it was not security, but

 the price of tomatoes!

From within every home, there was disbelief …

tomatoes cost more than chicken!